Time of Reckoning
by ShotgunRain
Summary: Set post CA:TWS. Bucky meets a mysterious stranger one day who promises to help him burn Hydra. Story is better than the summary. Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Comics or any of the characters. All except my own belong to Marvel.
1. Chapter 1

_He ran through the twisting halls of the Hydra facility, quickly dispatching anyone who stood in his way. He had to get to her before they killed her or worse, wiped her. He hoped she would be in the same room he last saw her in, before everything went to shit. He rounded one last corner and crashed through the door, using his shoulder to bear the brunt of the fall. He came face to face with Gordon Brown, Hydra's new director. Gordon stood casually leaned against his desk picking his fingernails with the tip of a knife. He made eye contact and smiled._

_"Well we meet again." Before Gordon could continue, he was cut off_

_"Where is she?" Gordon raised an eyebrow._

_"Where is who James?" _

_"You know damn well who I'm talking about. So stop playing coy." James growled._

_"Could you possibly mean .?" Gordon questioned. James remained silent. _

_"Well then let's bring her out." Gordon spoke into a radio and soon another two men burst through the door dragging something behind them. No not something, James realized, but someone. Tatijana. She was thrown to the ground in front of Gordon, unmoving. Gordon crouched beside her and lifted her head up. He turned it to look at James. Her eyes were swollen shut and a trail of dried blood went from her nose to her mouth, it very well could've been a cut. Her face was littered with them. Something was off about her appearance and it wasn't the fact that she was covered with cuts and bruises. She wasn't breathing. _

_"Look what happens when you betray us Winter Soldier. This is the price you pay." Gordon's voice dropped a few octaves. _

_"I won't be the one paying." James growled back with an equally deep voice. He tried to pull a knife from his sheath, but the two men who had brought Tatijana in grabbed his arms and held him in place. Gordon dropped Tatijana's head and walked over to James. James noted the sickening thud her head made as it collided with the concrete. Gordon pulled the knife James was going to pull out of its sheath and held it against James' throat._

_"Watch yourself boy." He warned before tossing the knife far away and exiting the room. James quickly dispatched of the guards holding him with a kick to ones knee and using his gun to take care of both of them. He rushed over to Tatijana and listened for a breath. Next he felt for a pulse. None._

_"No. No. No. No. No." He breathed. He was too late. He failed his mission. Without thinking, he gathered her up in his arms and held her close to him. She was beginning to grow cold. He failed her. He failed Tatijana. Sweet, innocent, little Tatijana. The one who gave him a second chance. He held her close and let out a scream of frustration. Why did Hydra have to take everything from him? One thing was for sure. Gordon Brown would pay, as well as every single Hydra agent out there. He let out another scream. He gently placed Tatijana back on the floor and stood. He walked over to the door and punched it open. _

"Woah. James. No need for the arm swinging. It's just me. Tat. Wake up." Tatijana said. James opened his eyes and took in the familiar surroundings. The white walls. His alarm clock on the table. The desk. The familiar bookcase holding barely any books. He flopped over and saw Tatijana standing by the bed, a worried look in her tired eyes. She was still in her sweater and sweat pants, meaning he had woken her up.

"What time is it?" James croaked. Tatijana- or Tat as she had said he could call her- checked her watch and gave a small smile.

"2:30. You made it about 4 hours. That's good."She tried to hide a yawn behind one of her hands

"4 hours is good enough for me. Go get some more sleep Tat." he instructed.

"Are you sure you don't need anything? You good?" James nodded and got out of bed. He gently steered her out of his room, and down the hall to her room.

"Get some rest Tat." James said, mainly to himself for Tat was fast asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. With Tat asleep, James pondered his dream. He stationed himself on the wall outside Tat's bedroom and thought.


	2. Chapter 2

When James heard the sounds that signaled Tat was awake, he moved into the kitchen to give her some privacy. 20 minutes later she entered the kitchen, tying her hair back into her regular haphazard bun just to the left of center on her head. She smiled when she saw him.

"How was your sleep?" he raised an eyebrow at her. She shrugged.

"Just trying to make conversation." She paused and turned to him with ill-disguised worry in her eyes.

"That nightmare seemed pretty powerful. Wanna talk about it?" She asked. James noted the careful tone in her voice. He didn't want her to tell him not to worry about her like she did everyone he expressed concern for her safety.

_They had been partnered for about 3 months now. He was still the Winter Soldier to Tatijana and she was still Tatijana to him. As he headed back to their base of operations, he thought over what had been said to him._

_"Tell that bitch you're working for that we know where she is. You can not hide from Hydra. Hydra sees all. Her days are numbered." He hadn't lived to say anymore after that. Tatijana greeted him with a smile when he returned and asked in her kind way for a mission report. He relayed each detail to her about what had been said. When he reached the part about Hydra knowing where she was, she let out a breath and ran a hand down her face._

_"What do you suggest we do?" she asked._

_"Move." Tatijana shook her head at that._

_"No. If they already knew where we were, they would have eyes on us so moving would defeat the purpose. So if what he said is true, than we're royally screwed." she thought for a while._

_"So do you think, and be honest here, do you think it would be possible to, like fight them off, get rid of the eyes? Do you think that's possible?" he thought through it. If she wasn't with him, it could be possible._

_"It would be possible, except for you." She arched an eyebrow._

_"What about me?" she asked._

_"You could get in the way and get captured." She smiled at him._

_"Don't worry about me. If it comes down to it, I would rather it be me than you. The information is all here, all it needs is someone to act upon it. I obviously can't, that's why I contacted you in the first place. You don't need to worry about me, I can handle myself."_

"Hello? James? You still with me?" Tat was snapping her fingers trying to get his attention. He shook the memory and focused on her.

"Still here." he replied. She kept silent.

"Just thinking." he explained.

"Oh? What about may I ask?" She lifted herself onto the counter and sat.

"Hydra." Was his response. She made a noise of understanding and nodded her head.

"Mr. Gordon Brown?" she asked. James nodded.

"More or less." She nodded, letting the subject drop. They ate breakfast in silence and headed down to 'Mission Control' as Tat called it. James sat down in his chair as Tat gathered her files. She drew up the files on her screen and handed the papers to James to read over.

"Samuel Roberts. 52. Native of the United States of America. Currently lives in Moscow, vanilla lifestyle on paper. But once you dig deeper, that vanilla goes away pretty quickly. Major part on Hydra's 'Council' if that's what you want to call it. Gordon Brown may be the face of Hydra, but this guy is part of the brain. Take him out and it will be like a chicken with its head cut off. Utter chaos." She summarized. She looked to James.

"We have about a 6 hour window to get him. Can trust you to accomplish this in that time?" He nodded. She smiled.

"Good. Keep it quiet."

*Few hours later. Tat POV*

I sat in front of my computer, radio in my ear. I kept it in even though James said he was maintaining radio silence. It was a good habit, you never know when something could go wrong on a mission. My eyes flit over the knife laying on the desk beside my keyboard. I made sure it was always visible when James was around. I found out real quick that if he saw I was armed, he wouldn't give me a weapon when we were in the same room. If he didn't see a weapon, he would drop everything and hand me a knife, or a gun. It took me a while to coax why he did it out of him, and I was surprised when he gave me that information.

_It had been a rough night, filled with nightmares. I sat on the edge of James' bed, ready for the next nightmare to hit. I felt a nudge against my arm and I looked towards the source. James was awake and handing me a knife._

_"No thank you." I refused, and gently pushed his arm away. He held firm and forced the knife into my hand._

_"I said I didn't want one." I set the knife on the bedside table. James picks it back up and hands it to me._

_"If I kept it beside me, would that be okay?" I asked. He nodded._

_"Why do you do it?" I asked. He lifted an eyebrow. "Hand me a weapon I mean. You know I don't like them."We had had this conversation each time he handed me a weapon. He never answered though. So I didn't really expect him to here. He thought for a moment before answering. He spoke in a low, quiet voice._

_"Because that's what I've been trained to do." I was shocked that he answered. I decided to push my luck and push a little more._

_"Why? Why would Hydra train you to do that James?"_

_"To arm any of my handlers so that, if need arises, they can kill me." I didn't respond immediately. How could I? It took me a while to form an answer._

_"I'm not your handler James. I trust you to be able to control yourself. You don't need to arm me."_

No matter how many times I told him that, he would still give me some sort of weapon if he saw me unarmed. So I took to keeping at least one knife visible around me at all times. The sound of James' voice over the radio broke me from my thoughts.

"Kill confirmed." I smiled.

"Good work James. Now get out of there." I responded. Just before the line went dead, I thought I heard James say.

"Yeah. Don't have to tell me twice."


	3. Chapter 3

James entered the house and trudged down to 'Mission Control'. The first thing he did was scan the room for Tat. She was in her chair, leaning back on it, with her feet up on the desk. Her focus completely on the screen in front of her. His hand was at his knife sheath pulling out a knife before he could form a thought. She caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and held up a hand to stop him. She leaned forward and picked a knife up from beside her foot and held it up for him to examine, all without taking her eyes off the screen. She placed the knife back in its original position and leaned back once more.

"I-" James began. It was unlikely of Tat to ignore him when he returned from a mission. Before he could say more Tat shushed him with a finger to her lips and pointed to the screen.

"Hush. I want to see this. C'mere I think you'll want to see this as well." She beckoned with her hand and James moved to stand beside her. She turned the volume up. The screen was set to a news station.

"We now go live to Jessica Dean at the Potomac river." the newscaster said. The scene switched to a view from the bank of the Potomac. A blond woman stood holding a microphone.

"Thank you Allison. Today marks the third anniversary of the "Battle Over the Potomac." As you can see behind me, the Triskellion is still being repaired after a S.H.I.E.L.D helicarrier crashed into it. We are being told that renovations should be completed sometime during the next year." Tat turned the TV off. She lifted her feet off the desk and turned to James.

"Its been three years. Wow time really flies huh? Can't really say Time flies when you're having fun because, well, running from Hydra isn't exactly what I would call fun. You might, but not this gal" she ended with a point at herself. James felt his lips twitch in a smile. She snapped her fingers.

"Ah. Almost forgot. How'd it go?"

"Fairly well. No complications." She nodded.

"Good. Good. Good." she stood up and stretched her neck.

"Now what?" James asked.

"I'm gonna start compiling info on our next target. You can do, I don't know, what you want." Tat shrugged as she sat back down into her chair. James went to his room and changed out of his mission clothes. Three years.

_He sat on a park bench, arm hidden under a jacket, hands shoved into his pockets. A ball cap covered his head. If he kept his head down, it also covered his face. He sensed a presence beside him and turned to asses. Beside him sat a young woman. No older than her late 20's. She sat crossed legged and was browsing her phone. Her hair curled slightly around her shoulders. After a few moments she spoke._

_"You don't need to stare sweetheart. It's rude." James moved his gaze. She spoke again._

_"Before I continue, I will remind you that we are in public and you probably don't want to give away your disguise." with that, she turned to face him. _

_"How-" he questioned, his voice rough from disuse._

_"If one knows what to look for, one can find almost anything." She gave a small smile. James had to resist the urge to throttle her and wipe that smile off her face. No one could know who he was, so if she knew, she would have to be taken care of._

_"Now would I be correct in assuming that you don't exactly have the best relationship with the organization known as Hydra at the current moment?" she continued on. James tensed at the name. It brought back painful memories he was trying so desperately to shove down. She turned to him._

_"You know what. This bench isn't the place to have this conversation. Drop by this address and we'll continue. Alright?" she handed him a small piece of paper with an address on it. _

_"Have a nice day." she called over her shoulder as she walked off. James examined the paper. What if it were a trap? Could she be Hydra? She didn't look like a Hydra agent, but then again he hadn't seen many agents. Only the ones who were assigned with him on missions and the scientists. What was she going to say to follow up to that question? James was torn between going to the address and leaving it. She knew who he was. That was suspicious. Although if she were Hydra, she probably would've had back up just in case he did get violent. In the end he decided to go for it and go to the address. _

"Hey you." Tat knocked on his door. "You decent?" James opened the door as his answer.

"You didn't answer when I called your name. I got worried. I gotta run and grab something for later. Will you be okay?"

"What are you grabbing?"

"Its a surprise. We still have to catch you up and get you 'versed' in this day and age." she smiled. James nodded.

"Yeah I should be fine. I'll just snoop in all your drawers while you're gone." Tat feigned shock.

"So he does have a sense of humour. Would ya look at that." she smiled.

"Alright. So you'll be fine?" James nodded. "Ok. I shouldn't be gone more than an hour." James watched as she climbed the stairs to the door and climbed them behind her. He watched her pick up her keys, check all her pockets, find what she was looking for, and head out the door. Her bun had been replaced with a braid going down her back. She waved to him before the door shut, he lifted his hand to wave back. Once the door closed, James got the feeling of uneasiness that came every time Tat went out without him, or at least protection. He descended down the stairs, went to Tat's computer and saw the knife still sitting beside her keyboard. She left without a way to protect herself.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys. In case you haven't heard. I have set up a tumblr account to encourage writer/audience interaction. All information about this can be found on my profile. Feel free to check it out. **

The realization hit James like a ton of bricks. The one time she left without protection would most likely be the time something happened. He rushed back upstairs. Her car was long gone by now. She didn't say where she was going. She said she would be an hour. He give her an hour, then he would worry. She could handle herself. That was one of the longest of his life. Eventually an hour passed and she still hadn't come back. Now was the time to worry. Janes had just made his mind up to phone her when the for door opened. He went into attack mode and grabbed a knife from the block in the kitchen.

"James I'm home. " Tat called out. He turned the corner and saw Tat standing in the doorway hanging her keys up. She smiled at him when she saw him.

"I would've been home sooner traffic downtown was a nightmare-is that a knife?"James brought the knife up and showed it to her.

"Sorry. "He apologized. She shook her head.

"Don't be. Obviously you have a reason for having it." She moved around him and entered the living room, where she began to unload the bag in her hand. James turned watch her. Something caught the corner of his eye. A large black van had driven slowly by the house. Something about the van made James uneasy.

"Tat, could you move away from the window?"He asked. Tat gave him a strange look.

"Please. "His voice took on a urgent time when he saw the van drive slowly by in the opposite direction. She moved away the windows and came to stand beside James, looking into his eyes.

"Everything OK? "She asked.

"Let's go to the basement, "he watching the windows closely.

"James. What is going on? Is everything OK? "She pleaded. A whistling could be heard growing closer. James knew that sound quite well. Just before the object crashed through the window, James grabbed Tat around the shoulders and pushed her towards the basement's general direction. The window shattered.

**Tat POV**

I felt James' arm pushing me towards the basement. The window shattered and I let out a scream of surprise.

"Get Down! "He yelled and I dropped to the ground, James covering me with his body. After about a minute I felt him move off me and I opened my eyes. Someone grabbed my arms and hauled me to my feet. I saw James being held by two larger men, his metal arm hanging limply by his side. It looked as if someone had disabled it. He was struggling to escape and one his eyes landed on me, the struggling worse. I felt the cool metal barrel of a gun press into the side of my head.

"Stop struggling or I will pull the trigger. "The man holding me growled. James stopped struggling. A pair of handcuffs were placed around my wrists locking hands behind my back. The gun pressed into my lower back and I was forced to walk in the direction I steered in. I was lead out my window and to a black van. The back doors opened and everything went black.


End file.
